Java

Apple has already delivered one Flashback malware removal option for Mac users, and now the company has released a second clean-up tool for those who don't have Java installed on their systems. The new Flashback malware removal tool (DL1517) is intended for users of OS X 10.7 Lion who, for one reason or another, are avoiding Java altogether; like its predecessors, it scans for the most common variants of the malware and, if discovered, removes them.

All talks of settlement over what's sure to be an electric case between Oracle and Google over copyright infringement of the former by the latter have failed and a trail date has been set to end the conflict. It will all end (or begin in ernest, rather) on April 16, 2012, and Google may be in for a world of hurt if Oracle is found on the winning end of this particular battle. If you'll remember back months and months ago, Oracle claimed the Android lifted Oracle-made code without their consent - the results could be dire if Google is proven guilty.

In one of the most important law-related situations in Google's mobile OS Android's relatively short history, Google and Oracle appear to be heading to a settlement agreement over whether Android does indeed infringe upon Java code owned by the other party. In a case we've been covering since its inception in over a year ago in August of 2010, Google's original claim that this is a "baseless lawsuit" appears to still be their position, Eric Schmidt's July 2011 comments still ringing true, yet both Oracle and Google have agreed to a court-suggested mediation between the two parties.

In March of 2011, Google hired James Gosling, the father of Java for an unspecified position. We naturally assumed that Gosling was going to work on Android in some capacity. Strangely, at the time Gosling landed at Google, it and Oracle were in a legal battle over the alleged use of some Java code in Android. Gosling is no longer working at Google and the reason for leaving isn’t noted. I wonder if it had anything to do with the Google/Oracle fight over Java.

Apple has announced that, along with Oracle, it is kicking off the OpenJDK project for Mac OS X. As part of the partnership, Apple's software engineers "will contribute most of the key components, tools and technology" involved in a Java SE 7 implementation, including a 32-bit and 64-bit HotSpot-based Java virtual machine, class libraries, a networking stack and the foundation for a new graphical client, all released as open-source.

Oracle has decided to sue Google over patent and copyright infringements, as it relates to Java's usage in Android. It's a decision that has many scratching their heads in confusion over, especially the open source community. While a large market of analysts have already chimed in on their own regard about the situation, it's been Google that's waited the longest to comment. But, now, that's changed, as the Big G has come forward to put their statement on the situation forward.

As we've seen in the past, publicly announcing your deals with Apple before the Cupertino PR machine has had its way is generally a shortcut to seeing your business partnership dissolve, but that hasn't stopped Chinese game developer Handseeing. The company's VP for operations has apparently confirmed that they're in talks with Apple regarding acquisition: "We should have a decision in about one or two months," Tian Bo told Reuters, "they're still talking about it and it's not quite settled yet right now."

AT&T may have scooped RIM's BlackBerry Torch 9800 reveal, but the Canadian company is now filling in the meat of the OS 6 smartphone story. We already know the quadband UMTS/HSPA smartphone is arriving on AT&T come August 12th, complete with a 3.2-inch touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and WiFi b/g/n, but now we have full details on the BlackBerry 6 OS it'll be running, plus a new Java SDK to support the refreshed platform.

TouchWiz wasn't the greatest. TouchWiz 2.0 was a huge leap in the right direction. But there was always going to be something holding back Samsung from taking any steps forward in the mobile marketplace, and it had nothing to do with proprietary software on their phones. They lacked what everyone else and their second-cousin has: a way to get first- and third-party developed applications onto their phones. Well, it looks like that's about to change.

Don't ask how, and don't ask from where (though we're guessing HTC, frankly), but MoDaCo's Paul has managed to acquire the upcoming firmware update for the HTC Hero and installed it on his test device. As we hoped, his feedback is that it speeds the smartphone up no end, with menus far quicker to respond and panning between homescreen pages more smooth.